July 25, 2010: The Remaining Ears of Corn

I picked the rest of the corn this morning, except for the small patch in the squash bed. Actually, the yield was excellent. I got about 32 ears from 20 stalks, and most had been well pollinated. If they had been 7-8" long, instead of 3-5" long, it would have made a decent harvest. In total, they weighed 3 pounds 3 ounces.

I tossed about 6 ears that were too small to fool with, I ate one and Annie poked me and whined until I finally gave her an ear to chew on. She played with hers for a while, then left it lay uneaten. This is what is left, so I'll cut all of it off the cobs and cook it for tonight's dinner. It will probably give us one meal plus leftovers to mix with the crookneck squash and green beans.

********Kelly, I should have put the rular next to them, so you could see how small they are!

********happyskunk, they really are small, but that might be attributed to growing them in a whiskey barrel. Darned things probably spent more time drinking booze than growing ;-)

It's Golden Bantam 8 heirloom seed, (yellow) 78 days. [Introduced 1902 by Burpee. Originated in Massachusetts.] Five- to six-foot stalks can be planted more closely than other varieties. Ears 6-1/2 in. long with 8 rows of golden-yellow kernels. The milk stage is short, and the ears must be picked without delay. I have nearly 5 ounces of seed left. Email me (address is in my profile) if you want it.

Apple Pie Gal and Erin, I ended up with just over three cups of kernels, cut off the cobs, plus the two larger (older, tougher) ears that I'll force on myself for lunch. I guess anything is better than nothing, but I'm sure the barrels could have been put to better use.

Granny, I've never grown corn and have never even seen any home-grown corn before. So my first reaction to the picture of your corn is - how come the rows of kernels look so uneven and crooked, compared to typical store-bought corn? Is this "normal" for home-grown corn? I don't want you to think that I'm dissing your corn (I'm not!), but I'm just really curious about home-grown corn.

Thyme2, it's not really "typical" of home grown corn, it happens when pollination isn't perfect. By planting corn in larger blocks of say 6 rows by 6 rows (or 60 rows by 60 rows, LOL), rather than in small plantings, that problem would be avoided.

yummmmmmm- You are the best gardener! Remember those tiny Red Robin tomatoes I planted last winter. In the house they never put a tomato on at all, but I put 3 out in pots and 2 of them are loaded with tomatoes, the third with flowers - LOL

Gloria, you fared better than I with the indoor tomatoes. Mine died before I had a chance to bring them home! I have different varieties to try this year, if I decide to grow them inside again. The lemon tree might be all I want to do that with.